Skills in an official language (English or French) significantly affect the economic integration of Canada’s immigrants, including their employment levels and incomes. Official-language skills
also have an impact on how well immigrants integrate socially in their workplaces and communities.
In this study, Tracey Derwing and Erin Waugh examine the relationship between official language
knowledge and the social integration of adult immigrants to Canada.
Improving immigrants’ language proficiency requires greater emphasis on pragmatic skills and opportunities to interact with people in an official language.
Pour améliorer les compétences linguistiques des immigrants, il faut mettre l’accent sur les connaissances pragmatiques et les possibilités d’interagir dans l’une ou l’autre langue officielle.
This paper, from the Institute for Research on Public Policy, examines the ability of immigrants to transfer the occupational human capital they acquired prior to immigration.
